Families Are Still Burying 9/11 Victims 20 Years Later

HOLMDEL, NJ — Most people have one single funeral service for their loved ones. The family of Ken Tietjen, a Port Authority police officer who died during the 9/11 attacks, has been through three, with the most recent taking place just about a year ago.

"Last year we received notification that they identified some of my brother's remains," Tietjen's sister, Laurie Tietjen, said. "So 19 years later, our families are still going through reliving 9/11 on a regular basis."

Tietjen, 49, who recently moved from Middletown to Holmdel, lived in Hazlet at the time of the attack. According to her, a number of other families have also gotten a similar notification about their relative's remains just days ago.

"So this not a day that just happened," she said. "It's an event that still lives on for thousands of people in our area."

In the 20 years since 9/11, Tietjen has kept close ties with first responders and other members of the community through the organization she helped build in her brother's name, the Ken Tietjen Memorial Foundation.

Since the attack, Tietjen has kept the memory of her brother alive through the foundation by handing out Christmas gifts to kids in need during the holidays (a tradition her brother started) and running mentoring and community programs. Every year they reach about 2,000 families. They also have mini therapy horses that they take to law enforcement officials and other people going through various illnesses.

About six years ago, Tietjen decided to radically change the way she commemorates the anniversary of 9/11.

"I just said 'I don't wanna go to another memorial. I don't wanna go to New York and cry and be sad all day.' Because that's the complete opposite of who my brother was," she said. "We decided that we were gonna turn the day into something positive."

Every year on Sept. 11, she has since gone around fire and police departments in New York City, bringing food and spending some time with those first responders.

Jon Stewart has followed along that journey. The comedian, who has notoriously advocated relentlessly for 9/11 first responders, also volunteered with the foundation.

"I call him the hero to the heroes because he is one of the few celebrities who have stood up relentlessly for our first responders, fighting on Capitol Hill for them," Tietjen said.

"An ordinary guy who did something extraordinary"

Ken Tietjen wasn't particularly great in school. He loved playing practical jokes on people and was always meant to work in a job related to community service, according to his sister.

"He was an ordinary guy who did something extraordinary that day," she said.

The police officer was all the way across the city at the Port Authority moments after the first tower was hit and rushed downtown with his partner in a taxi, even speeding over sidewalks.

The story of his last minutes lived on through the memory of his patrol partner, who was close by at Ground Zero: Tietjen was inside the South Tower giving first aid to a woman when the building came crumbling down to the ground.

"There is no other place he would have been other than helping people that day," his sister said.

Two decades after the passing of her brother, one thing that still strikes Tietjen is how present the aftermath of the attacks is on so many people to this day, including those still suffering from medical conditions related to the Sept. 11 attacks.

Yet, she said that a lot of those "heroes feel a bit forgotten."

Tietjen has also expressed the importance of teaching the day's significance to those who may not have a personal connection to it. The longtime Monmouth County resident noted that she had recently attended an event with 50 12-year-olds, with only two knew of them knowing what 9/11 is.

"The reason that makes me sad is that every single day we're still working with, not only first responders, but other people who were at 9/11 who are still experiencing horrendous health issues," she said.

"I've had the honor of spending the last days with a number of incredible heroes. I worry about my brother's friends," Tietjen told Patch. "The suffering I've seen in some of the first responders who survived has been heartbreaking. That's why it's so important to me that we don't forget them — because they're still alive and they're still struggling. They deserve our help."

For more information about the Ken Tietjen Foundation, visit their website.